pain management

At Naturopathic Specialists our first goal for pain management is always to help reduce someone’s level of discomfort while we determine the source of their pain. Once the source is discovered an appropriate and comprehensive treatment plan can be created using safe and effective pain management treatments to provide relief, without addictive risk or negative side effects. As Naturopathic Specialists, we understand how much chronic pain can disrupt one’s life, our facility is set up for your comfort starting from your first consultation. When you arrive at out Scottsdale office, you’ll be warmly greeted by our knowledgeable and helpful staff and you will be welcomed to relax in our waiting area while they alert the physician of your arrival. Your physician will then take your history and examine you to determine which method of pain management would be best for you. We believe service is best when the physician is the one providing these services instead of a medical assistant or other medical personnel.

As naturopathic physicians we are trained to take the whole person into account and create a treatment plan using a diversity of therapies pain including:

AcupunctureThis appears almost as a timeless therapy since its inception over 2,000 years ago. This therapy involves the insertion of very thin, sterile needles in specific points on the body associated with your pain syndrome. Insertion of needles at such points brings balance and harmony back to the body and allows for the relief of pain.

Massage therapy Massage is a wonderful tool not only to treat pain but to prevent pain from worsening or from becoming in the first place. Our facility offers several forms of massage therapy, all delivered by a licensed massage therapist in a calm, private setting.

Trigger point injectionsTrigger points are painful sites of muscular spasm and inflammation often located in the shoulders and near the spine, although one can have a trigger point anywhere there is skeletal muscle. Massage is often a way to help start the process of trigger point relief, however massage therapy has its limitations and trigger point injection therapy can finish the job. The therapy involves injection of either a mild anesthetic or a nutritional agent to help relax the muscle thus relieving the pain.

Nutritional therapy Believe it or not, what you eat could be causing your pain. Naturopathic physicians are highly trained in nutritional therapy and oftentimes our practitioners have found that sometimes simple changes in people’s diets significantly reduce their pain levels. As a result, patients are thrilled when a cause can be found in the diet as this means that pain relief, at least in part, may come from dietary changes.

Prolotherapy Prolotherapy has been in use since the 1950’s and entails injecting a solution into the problem area – generally a joint, ligament or tendon – in an effort to stimulate the healing process and alleviate pain. The fundamental goal of prolotherapy injections is to kick-start the body’s regenerative response by promoting tissue growth. The resulting “weld” will ideally improve function and reduce pain without the need for opioid-based painkillers or surgery.

Prolotherapy with PRP PRP stands for “platelet-rich plasma,” a substance created naturally from your own blood and platelets. Platelets are cell-like components of the blood whose main function is to stop bleeding by clumping and clogging blood vessel injuries. However platelets also have growth factors inside of them, which aid in the healing and growth of injured or damaged tissues.

Creation of PRP is performed at the time of therapy, in our office, using sterile procedures and involves a brief and simple blood draw to harvest platelets. The blood is then processed for a few minutes in the clinic. The resulting solution is the “platelet-rich plasma” and is immediately prepared for injection. When PRP is injected into the damaged area, it causes mild inflammation that then triggers a healing response. PRP contains the patients’ own growth factors (platelet derived growth factors) which stimulate rejuvenation and healing of collagen. As the collagen matures it begins to shrink causing tightening and strengthening of the damaged area.

Prolotherapy is most commonly used to alleviate:

chronic pain in joints

knee pain

shoulder pain

chronic pain in ligaments

lower back pain

tennis or golf elbow

chronic pain in tendons

osteoarthritis

tendonitis

If you are struggling with chronic pain or have tried multiple treatments that have proven to be ineffective in addressing your discomfort, contact Naturopathic Specialists for a consultation. A free 10-minute phone consultation may help determine whether prolotherapy is a potential option to help you become pain-free.